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Mushrooms are skincare’s latest ingredient obsession and, as of August 2024, the craze has now reached the affordable market in the form of glow hub’s skin trip treatment lotion (£12, Lookfantastic.com).
Premium brands, including Origins, Natura Bisse and Drunk Elephant are already adopting the power of funghi within their products, and the mushroom skincare market has been waiting for such a wallet-friendly find. And, even with its less than £15 price point, glow hub’s take on the phenomenon still features five varieties of mushrooms including reishi, chaga, cordceps, silver era and shiitake mushrooms.
Mushrooms as a skincare ingredient have been heralded as a hero ingredient thanks to their ability to reduce inflammation, irritation and hyperpigmentation (including sun spots and melasma). Some mushrooms, such as the shiitake included here, can also with acne and boost brightness, while chaga mushrooms can help to protect the skin against environmental elements like UV.
Intrigued by the promise of mushrooms as an antioxidant, I put the lotion to the test. The idea of “skin-loving” shrooms – as the brand describes them – stepping in to help calm down the irritation I was experiencing from AHA and BHA actives, sounded an A* idea on paper – but did it come to fruition? Keep reading to find out.
How I tested
I have been putting it to the test over the past few weeks. The brief? To restore my stressed-out skin (think: flaking, stinging and inflamed) to a comfortable state while maintaining the pore-refining and exfoliating qualities of some of my most-reached toners.
It’s worth noting that this product, as a treatment lotion, can be used at both the toner and serum stage, with my test centring around the former. Applying the lotion after cleansing, I paid attention to the feel of the formula on my skin, paying particular attention to whether it caused any tingling; any notable scent; its texture when applied by hand; and, of course, any changes to the condition of my skin after repeated use. I tend to avoid using a toner in the evenings with so many new items being introduced into my routine as is, so this test was based on frequent morning use. Here’s how I got on.